I am approaching the final session of the longest D&D campaign I’ve ever run.

The players have made their way through all the challenges I constructed for them. The only thing left to do is confront the final villain and defeat him.

I’m reminded of something I wrote in high school, that people are attracted to stories that excite them regardless of how real those stories are. The world, characters, and stories I’ve built through Dungeons and Dragons aren’t real, but the outcome is as important to me as the outcome of other things in my life.

The Heroes of the Dragon War pooled their resources to erect defenses around the Orbs of Dragonkind. They decided that five of the Orbs would be defended in the same location by a nearly impassable obstacle. The other five Orbs would be hidden separately within dungeons that the Heroes would build and protect. Continue reading →

Tentineh labored to build defenses for the Dragon Orbs entrusted to his care. Shratalanda, Bigby, and Danar assisted in designing the protections for the Orbs. While working they discussed the inevitability of their deaths and the release of the dragons. No matter how well-designed their protections were, they would eventually be breached. The Orbs would be found and broken, releasing the terrible scourge of dragons upon the world again. No matter how well defended, the Orbs simply could not be locked away for all eternity.

Tentineh suggested a solution. Each of the Heroes of the Dragon War could bind his or her soul to one of the Orbs. When the Orb was broken, that Hero would be returned to life, ready to fight the dragons once again. There was only one problem with this plan, in order to bind a person to the Orb, that person would have to voluntarily give up their life. A death without the afterlife. Their souls would not pass on to Erebos and Elysium. They would remain with the Orbs ready to reappear when they were needed.

Shratalanda, Bigby, and Danar approved of the idea. They would get their affairs in order before binding their souls to the Orbs. Danar left to inform the other Heroes of the Dragon War who had spread out across Cimmeria. Shratalanda, Bigby, and Tentineh set to designing the specifics of this unusual soul-binding spell.

Gorwinua was 44 at the end of the Dragon War which would make her solidly middle-aged for a Human. For a full-blooded Orc she was practically frail. Gorwinua spent a few years writing an epic poem about the Dragon War. She hoped the poem would provide guidance for the Orcs and the other races to live in harmony. After completing the poem she went into hibernation at the age of 50.

Tracy was 119 at the end of the Dragon War. The Dragon War had occurred when she was already in her twilight years. She was the first to enter hibernation when she was 121.

Cecilia was 55 at the end of the Dragon War. She returned to her hometown, now a thriving city. The place felt alien to her. Everything was unfamiliar and strange. The few old neighborhoods and shops from before the war brought back painful memories. Cecilia was trapped between neophobia and reminders of the evil acts she committed while under Warlock Hargath’s spell. Additionally, she disliked the predictability of retirement compared to the excitement of adventuring. Tentineh’s hibernation idea appealed to her and she accepted soon after Tracy, entering hibernation at the age of 57.